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Reporters Without Borders
Algeria

Source:  http://rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7265
Or:      http://rsf.fr/print.php3?id_article=7265

18.06.2003

Unlike in neighbouring Tunisia, the Internet in Algeria is not controlled by the authorities. Laws give the government power to regulate and even monitor it, but they have not so far been used.



The daily paper Liberté reported in 2001 that a policeman in Boufarik, a small town west of Algiers, tried to get the owner of a cybercafé to note down the names and addresses of customers and the websites they connected to. The owner refused and filed a complaint. After this was reported by the media, the local police chief said it was a personal initiative of the police officer and that he had been suspended.

Since then, no cases of censorship have been recorded. However, article 14 of a 1998 telecommunications decree says ISPs "must take responsibility" for the content of sites and servers they run or host. They are also required to "take all necessary steps to ensure continuous monitoring" of content and servers accessible to their customers so as to block access to "material that undermines public order and morale."

In May 2001, parliament passed an amendment to the criminal code that caused outcry among journalists. Its article 144 (b) provided for prison terms of between two months and a year and fines of between 750 euros and 3750 euros in the event of "denigration of the president through insults or defamation," in writing, drawings or speech, through radio and TV broadcasts or electronic or computer means.

Offenders can be directly prosecuted by the government without a prior complaint being filed. For repeat offenders, the punishments are doubled. These sanctions also apply to such attacks on parliament, the armed forces and any other public body. Several journalists have been given prison sentences, but the measure has not so far hampered the growth of the Internet.

LINKS :

  *   News site of Algeria Interface:  http://www.algeria-interface.com/

  *   The human rights group Algeria Watch:  http://www.algeria-watch.de/

  *   The Human rights in North Africa:  http://www.maghreb-ddh.org/


Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.



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